Chinatown Fair,a local institution in New York City and Chinatown landmark closed on Saturday late night. This video game arcade was also known as Tic Tac Toe x Chicken, due to the previous attraction of playing a game of Tic Tac Toe against a live chicken in a machine, all for the price of $1 (in the late 80s at least). [Video after the jump]

Editor’s Note: Electronic Gaming Monthly is a publication that has filled me with fine memories. It was from this magazine I began watching my first and one of the foremost anime series, Ranma 1/2. Sushi-X’s rumor section was my favorite due to its dirt sheet format. Although one of its primary purposes was for gamers to purchase more games, the magazine also told stories about lives beyond the digital realm, and of inspirations to create some of the masterpieces. Farewell EGM, you will be missed~!!

Below is a letter from the CAPCOM producer, Yoshinori Ono of Street Fighter IV.

Letter From Capcom

I can’t recall the first time I met EGM’s staff — it must’ve been years ago. Since then, it seems like I’ve had a new title going just about every year, which gave me a chance to meet up with EGM editors to discuss my projects. At this point, I imagine I’ve met just about all the editors. I’m familiar with them now, and they know me, too. I feel close enough to them to chat casually at lunch, which isn’t always the case in this industry.

EGM’s always had a good relationship with Capcom, graciously covering our titles — and even literally placing our big games on the cover. Of course, the coverage isn’t always universally positive, but the EGM staff’s second to none in connecting with gamers and getting information out there where it needs to be.

That said, it was with sadness that I heard that EGM was going to suspend publishing. Of course, 1UP.com will continue to thrive, and that’s great, but I still hold paper publications in high regard, and I think that readers also appreciate having something physical to hold in their hands — and that remains for reference once read. This provides something that the Internet, for all its usefulness, simply can’t provide due to the fast pace of electronic news dissemination.

It’s only fitting that my last dealings with EGM were to help roll out Street Fighter 4, a title that’ll bring the series back into the limelight after a decade-long absence. We made our first SF4 announcements via EGM, and I recall telling my colleagues at Capcom USA that EGM was the right magazine for the job. I’ve long respected the reverence and importance their editors place on our chosen hobby, and I knew that they were the right choice to help make our announcements.

It’s worth mentioning that no one was as passionate or obnoxious (just kidding!) with their pleas for a new Street Fighter game. No matter what the topic of the interview, EGM editors would invariably ask about a new Street Fighter game. As I’ve said before, without these questions, the game would likely never have been made.

Speaking of SF4, I fondly recall inviting EGM and 1UP.com staff for a secret unveiling and hastily arranged “mini-tournament” here in a small meeting room in Tokyo shortly after our initial announcement in October 2007 in London. I’m grateful for the enthusiasm that they showed then. I was impressed with their love of Street Fighter — but also frightened, as development was an uphill battle, and I knew then just how high fans’ expectations truly were. Their passion for the series is what inspired me to get into the ring and fight until the game was finally where it needed to be. Speaking of thanks, special thanks go out to Milky, whose comments — even at that early stage — served to help us solve several balancing issues we’d encountered. You have my gratitude.

During our clandestine meeting, a very early version of the actual game was ready to be unveiled to our guests. The reaction was great — EGM’s support gave me clear direction. I was sure, perhaps for the first time, that we were headed in the right direction with the game, and my uncertainty vanished. I was certain that this was the game that users wanted, and I was able to move beyond my own worries and present the game with pride.

As a result, our branches in Japan and the U.S. were bombarded with feedback from users. Attendance and reaction at events was through the roof. Perhaps the pinnacle of these events was the San Diego Comic-Con this past summer. At that event, I was finally able to present the game with all of the changes implemented from EGM’s feedback. Suffice it to say, the reaction was incredible.

Creating games while keeping track of the needs and opinions of the average user is terribly important, and I feel that organizations such as EGM and 1UP.com are instrumental in making that happen. To hear that one of these bastions of game journalism will soon close its doors is disheartening. Still, I look forward to seeing what the editors will go on to do. I have high hopes for them.

EGM, thank you for the memories! Thanks for supporting us and helping us make our games even better!

I am at a loss for words at time so I will just have to say what I feel.

Domo arigato Miyamoto Shigeru-kun.

(C) Tina Fineberg/AP

Almost two decades ago in the last Saturday of December of 1990, my dad was excited because he was going to give me what otehr kids have: happiness through my very first video game console. I did not know what the fuss was as I was going to miss the latest episode of Friday the 13th: The Series. After three hours and assistance from my near genius cousin, we finally got the damn Ninetndo Entertainment System hooke dup on our old Zenith TV. I did decently on the first three or four levels of Duck Hunt. However, around mdnight, my brother and I decided to switch the console system on restart to finally play the crown jewel of console gaming at the time: Super Mario Bros. After two minutes we were cruising along, stomping Goombas and Koopa Troopas until we reached the first pit. That night neither of us could make it. A few weeks later my dad played it and explained to my brother that he needed to do a running jump to cross over. I was never able to cross that first pit without sweating bullets (think about level 8-1 now Mario afficionados0), and if I did the first Goomba would do me in. I fared better with Super Mario Brothers 3 though. I still have fear of side scrolling platforms and jumping was hell for me in Final Fantasy X and Rogue Galaxy.

Thank you Miyamoto for bringing joy to millions of children with the story of your Italian Brooklynite plumber chomping down on psilocybin shrroms and brutalizing turtles. You are in fact a great man. Belated 56th birthday (November 16, 2008) wishes to you~!

Coming to your nearest dealer today December 08, 2008 for the Sony PlayStation2 Computer Entertainment Syetm. Living in the Japanese village of Inaba can be a bore sometimes. Staying up late at night and flipping through the channels though, you come upon a real urban legend: Midnight TV. As you gaze in the dummy box, you become aware of the “other” you. Worse still you come upon a murder victim…

Capcom confirms the latest entry in the legendary fighting series will skip U.S. arcades.

We recently learned that Street Fighter 4 will be released February 17 on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. But if you’re still wondering whether you might be able to get your hands on it at your local arcade any earlier (or even any later), the answer is no — Capcom has confirmed the game will not officially be released in U.S. arcades. We’re pretty sure everyone assumed this would be the case anyway, but hey, now we know for certain.

“At this point, it does not look like Street Fighter 4 arcade machines will officially hit the U.S. arcade market,” said Chris Kramer, senior director of communications and community for Capcom Entertainment, speaking to Edge-Online. The reason, as Kramer explained, is unsurprisingly the nearly non-existent state of U.S. arcades. “There’s not really an arcade business in the U.S. anymore. It’s sort of like an ‘amusement’ business that sometimes has arcade games in it,” he said.

It’s been a long time coming, but the infamous Gouken, better known as Sheng Long, has finally made his debut in Street Fighter 4. Now we’ve got the video of the venerable Shotokan master in action.

Looks like Gouken has multi-directional hadoukens, a killer shoyruken combo and a host of other moves that should bring pain to his opponents. Nothing we wouldn’t expect from the master of Ken and Ryu. The guy’s younger brother is Akuma, one of the strongest Street Fighter characters ever, after all.

When you’re done watching Abel and Gouken go at it, be sure to hit the jump and watch the trailer for the forthcoming anime starring Chun-Li.

Read more. Author’s commentary: Gouken doesn’t seem so tough. His techniques are fancy but he appears slow. Hell seems to be the same speed as Abel, the new grappler, and grapplers are typically not fast in 2D fighting games.